Archive for the ‘Television’ Category

WQLN-TV off air until Monday

August 25th, 2011 joel

It’s been a rough week for WQLN as they were affected by weekend storms that knocked off their transmission system until Tuesday. Then again this morning the digital TV transmitter went out, again due to another bad storm and didn’t want to kick back on.

Here’s the latest from their Facebook page:

From our Chief Engineer: “WQLN TV will be off the air until at least Monday. Our transmitter’s tube went bad. The tube is the most important and also most expensive part of the transmitter. We had a good run with ours though, as it was the original tube and was about 10 years old. I will keep you all updated on the progress when I know more.” If you have Time Warner or Rogers Cable, you should be getting at least channel 54.1 since that is delivered to them via fiber optic.

I guess no This Old House Hour for us antenna-only folks tonight!

Posted in Television Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment »

The new JET 24 Action News

July 10th, 2011 joel

After furious months of design, demolition, construction which included weeks of producing hours of news products literally out of a hallway, the new set and graphics for WJET/WFXP debuted on Thursday.

This is not just a tweak, but a complete overhaul of the multiple newscasts morning, noon and night at the Erie ABC and FOX affiliates. The new music package that accompanies this change is only the second time the music has changed since the launch of Action News over thirty years ago. The graphics for both news and weather are instantly noticeable and a huge improvement for the market. And with the help of a lighting designer that has worked at the network level, the set and its inhabitants are extremely well lit with new Brightline fixtures.

(more…)

Posted in Television Tags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment »

Action News 24 begins rollout of new look today

June 30th, 2011 joel

For the past month, the news products from WJET/WFXP have been produced from temporary studios as the main news set received a total reconstruction.

However the renovations are not limited to physical props. The station logos and graphics for news and weather are also changing for this second decade of the 21st century. Station management said that the new logos and weather graphics will rollout today, with the set and news package coming sometime next week.

We plan to give you a behind the scenes look at the new digs when they are ready.

Posted in Television Tags: , , 21 Comments »

New WICU/WSEE website huge improvement

June 15th, 2011 joel
erietvnews.com

Screen grab of erietvnews.com - June 15, 2011

The new website for Lilly’s Broadcasting’s news products at WICU and WSEE is a huge improvement over what they had to date.

The design is clean, media-rich, and should be profitable. What’s interesting is that the on-air promos continue to push the individual domains for the TV stations, wsee.tv and wicu12.com, which then forward to erietvnews.com. I think that’s a good idea, since they have over a decade and a half of branding invested in those domains and rolling out a whole new brand is unnecessary and expensive. And it shows that in spite of much discussion in these parts, Lilly-Erie seems to be committed to keeping the individual news brands separate.

Features of the site are headlines up front, news articles with full-size video complete with ability to link and even embed video onto your own site, as well as share on Facebook or Twitter. There’s also satellite weather and only one ad “above the fold” so that your not wading through so many pop-ups to get to the top news. I like the bio page, with nice new pictures of the news staff and some witty personal stories, as well as the comprehensive directory of the entire company, complete with phone extensions and email links…I appreciate the willingness to be available to the viewers.

They’ve also included a mobile version of the site, which now joins YourErie.com in having separate mobile strategy for a mainstream Erie news outlet. We’ve yet to see any kind of mobile app to come out of GoErie.com/Erie Times-News.

There is still some cleanup to do at erietvnews.com, some design issues including random white space and lines that fall off, along with broken links. However, we are grateful for the investment made in this technology that really enhances viewer’s lives.

Posted in Television Tags: , , , , , , , 3 Comments »

Where have your TV faves gone?

May 18th, 2011 joel

In a small television market like Erie, often new faces will become familiar but then vanish, and the viewer will be asking “whatever happened to…?” Here’s a few folks that in recent months have flown the coop of the Flagship City and where they are now:

(Selena) Sunshine Wiles

Sunshine Wiles

Selena Sunshine Wiles, formerly of WJET

It was big news when Selena Wiles left the Tri-Cities in Tennessee to replace long-time anchor Karla Mullenax at Action News 24. So after just a couple years, it was shocking for the Erie viewers when she left again, this time to return to her home area of West Virginia. So much so that Selena Wiles is the most “googled” personality’s name on Press and Tower.

Ms. Wiles brought back her given middle name to the West Virginia airwaves when she moved back home last summer. Sunshine is now back at her original broadcasting company and anchoring the 10:00 nightly cast on FOX 10, WVFX/Clarkesville, WV. According to her bio:

By the summer of 2010, Wiles was more than ready to “return” home and not just be “closer” to family and friends in WV.  An opportunity with Wither’s Broadcasting and WVFX opened a door to return to her roots.
She says “it’s deja vu all over again, go Mountaineers, and this is almost heaven.”

(more…)

Posted in Television Tags: , , , , , , , , , 12 Comments »

The rise of women in Erie media

April 25th, 2011 joel

What glass ceiling?

The rise of market veteran Pam Forsyth to General Manager of Lilly Broadcasting’s WICU, WSEE, and WBEP is a significant milestone. Yet it is a natural outcome in a market that has long valued its female media professionals. Just last month, Lisa Adams was upped to News Director at the same cluster; who when joined by Program Director Paula Randolph creates a context where powerful female voices are heard from the entire spectrum of a station’s operation.

Meanwhile, downtown we find the Erie Times-News/GoErie.com and Connoisseur Media’s six radio stations with women in the CEO chair. And don’t forget that many ad deals are conducted by agencies led by women, including Ad Person of the Year, Pauline Gonda of Rambaldo Gonda Media.

Perhaps what makes the Forsyth promotion so exciting is that Pam came up through the ranks locally, starting in local radio sales at WSEG in the 1980′s, eventually hitting the streets for channel 12 where she has been most effective and empathetic for her clients and the viewers. I can’t think of a better person who can not only maximize revenues and market share while bringing continued healing and solidarity to the merged group.

The world of Mad Men seems a million years ago compared to this age of Erie media.

Posted in Television Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments »

Joey’s farewell forecast

March 2nd, 2011 joel

WSEE's Joey Stevens

The recent years in Erie media have been full of “ends of eras,” but WSEE’s Joey Stevens coming off the air in Erie seems hard to comprehend.

Three generations of Erieites are accustomed to hearing Joey’s voice and seeing his smile every day. He was the cool young jock to swooning teens in the 1970′s on WJET 1400. He was a natural to jump to TV, making the weather easy to understand, taking all of the ribbing about the snow in stride.

The team of Don Shriver, Joey Stevens, and John Evans on Action News 24 in the 1980′s and 90′s became an overwhelming force in Erie television, eventually passing the decade-long TV news leader WICU. When corporations took over Erie broadcasting, the stability of local ownership evaporated for Erie’s top news team. Evans eventually successfully ran for the State House and Shriver and Stevens went to WSEE in a gamble to bring big ratings down the dial.

Even though the results of the move were mixed, Joey Stevens connection to Erie viewers has remained strong through Wednesday night’s farewell forecast. He is a familiar friend to thousands, one of those regular guys with a great sense of humor who you gladly invited into your living room.

Joey’s move to focus solely on his Caribbean weather forecasts allows him to pull back on his workload while leaning into his growing impact on the people of the tropics. On occasion we may see him filling in on an Erie forecast, but it is appropriate today to pay him tribute for his consistency, excellence and charm.

Best wishes!

Posted in Television Tags: , , , , , , 5 Comments »
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    Press and Tower is a web community for Erie Pennsylvania's producers and consumers of newspapers, radio and television stations, and new media outlets. We connect, celebrate, complain, and communicate about all aspects of media.

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